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One day two weeks ago, the North Texas Municipal Water District delivered 160 million gallons of water to serve its 1.6 million customers – a total more typical of winter, and a reflection of strict conservation measures in the district.

But on Friday, the NTMWD produced 440 million gallons at its Wylie treatment facility, 20 million gallons from Lake Tawakoni and was blending water from Lake Texoma, an additional 62 million gallons.

That’s far more than customers needed at the peak of summer – Aug. 28, when 373 million gallons were used, according to the water district.

Blame it on the weather, which has been warm even by North Texas standards in recent days. And factor in the potential for twice as much sprinkler use now that the district has gone to once-a-week watering rather than the every two week cycle in place through most of the summer.

The new watering standard took effect on Sept. 1, and additional water being produced reflects anticipated needs. During August, when property owners could use sprinklers only once every two weeks, the district produced on average 275 million gallons a day.

“The increase [in production] allows for the once-per-week watering,” district spokeswoman Denise Hickey said Friday, “and it reflects the increase in temperatures [over the first few days of September]. Water usage tracks weather patterns – when it’s hot and dry, usage increases, and when it’s raining or overcast, decreasing usage occurs.”

“Our drought measures have reduced demands significantly from what usage would be if we were not limiting landscape watering,” Hickey said.

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth bring chances for more seasonal and even below-normal temperatures over the next week, which could reduce water usage.

A pair of cold fronts – one over the weekend, the other later next week – could drop daytime temperatures to the low 80s by next weekend, with lows in the 60s.

This weekend’s cool front could hold afternoon temperatures below 90 on Sunday. David Finfrock, chief meteorologist at NBC 5, expects a high temperature of 89 on Sunday, and said some areas could see seeing low temperatures in the upper 60s.

Downpours on Sunday morning dumped 3 inches or more of rain on some parts of the Dallas area, but didn’t do much to fill the hard-hit reservoirs that provide water to 1.6 million customers served by the North Texas Municipal Water District.

Utility districts measure water supply in acre-feet, and an acre-foot is a whole lot of water — more than 325,000 gallons, enough to serve the yearly needs of four typical families.

Lavon Lake, the NTMWD’s major reservoir, holds 795 fewer acre-feet of water than it did a year ago — about 260 million gallons. Jim Chapman lost 113 million gallons in the last month, and Tawakoni 124 million in a month and almost 800 million gallons in a year.

Texoma, which can provide up to 28 percent of the water district’s supply, stood at 100 percent of capacity a year ago, and about 86 percent today. That translates to almost 12,000 acre-feet lost — 3.896 billion gallons.

The NTMWD imposed some of the toughest water restrictions in the region this year, and member cities and customer cities have responded, said Tom Kula, the district’s executive director.

“Conservation is important, and it’s working,” Kula said. Usage in most cities is down by double-digits, preserving enough water to keep the district out of Stage 4 restrictions, which would ban all outdoor watering.

Faced with the toughest water restrictions in the region, customers of the North Texas Municipal Water District exceeded conservation goals again in July, the second consecutive month since the district went to Stage 3 water limits on June 1.
Among various restrictions, Stage 3 limits landscape sprinkler use to once a week.
“We appreciate the continued efforts of our water customers,” said Jim Parks, the district’s executive director. “Once per week landscape watering, if needed, along with other conservation measures, has proven to be key in meeting and exceeding our 10 percent reduction goal.”
The district joined with AgriLife Extension Service to create the WaterMyYard.com website, which allows residents to select their location and then receive weekly area-specific information on watering needs.
Residents can also use soaker hoses for up to two hours a day to maintain trees and foundations, the district said.

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The Stage 3 goals include reducing total wate usage by 10 percent, and customers exceeded that by 13 percent in July, district officials said.
“We appreciate the continued efforts of our

Grand Prairie’s biggest water main broke Monday, leaving officials scrambling to restore the line while asking residents to only use water for basic needs.

Public Works Director Ron McCuller said in a news release that crews will work around the clock to fix the 60-inch concrete supply line break near Carrier Parkway and Camp Wisdom Road. The main is one of two that carry water into the city from Dallas. Repairs are expected to take at least 24 hours, McCuller said.

“Once we get the site excavated, we’ll know more about what we are dealing with,” McCuller said in the news release.

McCuller said residents should stop watering their lawns in the meantime. Grand Prairie was already under mandatory water restrictions, which includes forbidding watering on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Residents at even-numbered addresses can water their lawns on Mondays and Thursdays. Odd-numbered addresses get Tuesdays and Fridays. Nobody is allowed to water their lawns between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Officials activated the city’s water wells, but it won’t make up for the water lost by the break, McCuller said.

Update on July 7 at 12:47 p.m.: The body of a 21-year-old who went missing at Grapevine Lake was found Saturday, fire department officials said.

The man’s body was recovered around 11:49 a.m., according to Battalion Chief Richard Tice. The man, whose name has not been released, was not wearing a life jacket when he went missing, Tice said.

Update on July 5 at 9:30 a.m.: The Grapevine Fire Department has resumed its search this morning for a man who has been missing since yesterday afternoon after not returning with 59 other passengers from a party boat on Lake Grapevine.

The search for the man began yesterday when the boat returned to Silver Lake Marina with the 21-year-old man missing. Police and fire officials are not certain that the man drowned. The boat stopped at Mustang Island on the lake and may have joined another party, police said. During the time the boat stopped, some passengers were able to go for a swim. Officials suspended the search last night around 9 p.m. and resumed at about 7 a.m. today.

A detailed description of the man is not available and his name is not being released yet, police said, because officials have not spoken to his family in detail.

Original post: The Grapevine Fire Department has not been able to find a 21-year-old man who went missing after a ride on a party boat Thursday afternoon on Grapevine Lake.

Officials say the party boat left Silver Lake Marina and was missing one of the passengers when it returned around 5 p.m.

Grapevine police spokesman Sgt. Robert Eberling said it is unclear if the missing man had been swimming and possibly drowned. The name of the missing man has not been released.

Zebra mussels multiply at astounding rates and can wreak havoc on water intakes such as those at this drinking water treatment plant on Lewisville Lake.

Less than a year after biologists discovered an established population of zebra mussels in Lake Ray Roberts, a researcher has found a live juvenile mussel near the dam at Lewisville Lake.

Christopher Churchill, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said this infestation is probably the result of contaminated boats being transported to Lewisville Lake from another contaminated lake. But it’s possible, he said, that the juvenile made the trip downstream from Lake Ray Roberts via the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.

Here's a zebra mussel (attached to a rock) that was pulled from Lake Ray Roberts in May. (Al Key/Denton Record Chronicle)

So far, no other mussels have been found in Lewisville Lake, so the juvenile mussel probably arrived recently, Churchill said.

Zebra mussels, native to eastern Europe and Russia, arrived in the U.S. in the 1980s in ballast water from ocean-going ships. The first mussels were found in 1988 and have now infested waterways in 29 states and 600 lakes or reservoirs in the U.S.

The mussels, which have no real predators, multiply at astounding rates, biologists say, quickly blanketing almost any fixed surface, including docks, pipelines and water intakes, a potential maintenance nightmare in North Texas where rivers and lakes provide the region’s water supply.

Officials urge boat owners to fully clean and dry boats when moving them from one lake to another, and emptying live wells on fishing boats. With Lewisville Lake’s popularity as a boating destination, officials say scrupulous cleaning of boats can slow — but likely won’t stop — the movement of mussels into the lake.

Worried about low lake levels and the prospect of dry weather ahead, the North Texas Municipal Water District is imposing Stage 3 water restrictions beginning Saturday, which limit sprinkler use for homes and businesses to once a week.

The district, which provides water to 1.6 million customers in Collin, Rockwall and Kaufman counties and portions of several others, said that winter and spring rains weren’t enough to replenish its two major lakes, Lavon and Jim Chapman, both of which are far below capacity.

Lavon, the district’s primary reservoir, is at 67.1 percent of capacity. A year ago, it was 97.4 percent full. Jim Chapman is in even worse shape, at 50.9 percent of capacity, compared with 93.8 percent a year ago.

“The experts predict another dry summer,” said Jim Parks, the district’s executive director, “so every gallon we save now will help extend our water supply.”

Conditions are worse for the North Texas district than others in the region because North Texas is missing 28 percent of its water supply due to the infestation of zebra mussels in Lake Texoma. A $300 million pipeline will restore that water supply, but not until late this year.

For now, district officials say conserving the existing supply is the best way to get through the summer without even tougher restrictions being imposed. The Stage 3 goal is reducing total water use by 10 percent.

The district recommends setting sprinkler systems on manual, rather than automatic, and turning on the water only when it’s really needed. Hand watering with hoses or using soaker houses around landscaping and your house’s foundation are still permitted.

The latest round of sampling for zebra mussels showed the presence of mussel DNA in Lakes Lewisville, Bridgeport and Bob Sandlin, along with Lakes Texoma and Ray Roberts, where adult populations have been found.

“We know a zebra mussel population exists in Lake Texoma and Ray Roberts,” said Brian Van Zee, regional director of inland fisheries for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “Our district biologists have looked for evidence of zebra mussel populations in Lake Lewisville, Bridgeport and Bob Sandlin since receiving the DNA test restuls, but none have been found.”

The DNA findings aren’t uncommon, Van Zee said, because the tests are very sensitive, and could show traces of DNA carried by contaminated boats rather than actual mussel populations.

Dr. Robert McMahon, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Texas at Arlington, monitors 14 North Texas reservoirs for the presence of zebra mussels. The test results at Lakes Bob Sandlin and Bridgeport were “very weak positives,” McMahon said. “The results for Bob Sandlin were so weak as to almost be below the limit of detection.”

Still, the traces of DNA signal that some boaters aren’t properly inspecting and cleaning their boats before moving them from Texoma or Ray Roberts into another area lake, officials said.